The Rays announced they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Jacob Lopez. It’s the first major league call for the 25-year-old southpaw. Tampa Bay had openings on the active and 40-man rosters after placing Wander Franco on the restricted list.
A 26th round pick by the Giants in 2018, Lopez spent just one year in the San Francisco system. At the 2019 deadline, the Giants shipped Lopez to the Rays for outfielder Joe McCarthy, who was in Triple-A at the time. The 6’4″ hurler has never gotten much attention in perennially deep Rays’ systems, but he has quietly put together a strong minor league resume. Lopez posted a 2.51 ERA in 15 appearances between High-A and Double-A two seasons ago.
2022 proved a lost season, as Lopez spent the whole year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft. Assigned back to Double-A to begin this season, Lopez picked up where he left off. He posted a 2.57 ERA through 28 innings to earn a bump to Triple-A Durham towards the end of May. Over 13 starts for the Bulls, he has allowed 2.72 earned runs per nine in spite of a hitter-friendly Triple-A environment.
Between the two affiliates, Lopez carries a 2.67 ERA across 84 1/3 frames. Working almost exclusively as a starter, he has fanned an excellent 32% of opposing hitters. His 12% walk rate is high, though it’s not uncommon to see pitchers struggle with command in the immediate aftermath of a Tommy John rehab. Lopez had walked just 7.4% of batters faced two seasons ago.
It’s unclear whether Tampa Bay will deploy him as a starter or break him into the big leagues out of the bullpen. He’ll offer a multi-inning option for skipper Kevin Cash in some respect. The Rays are in the seventh of nine straight game days, though they’ll have an off day on Thursday after their upcoming three-game set (ironically, against the Giants’ organization which originally drafted Lopez).
